Comment · Wed, December 26, 2012
Engraved stone dating back 30,000 years found in China. Incisions imply possibility of counting or recording?
What they were answering
[deleted] · 139 points
From an evolutionary view we are pretty much the same people today as we were then. They were still smart just didn't have all the accumulated knowledge we have today.
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb
They had the similar potential, but development of neuronal connections is dependent on learning and usage. Since they weren't subject to nearly the same level of stimuli during their development, their intellectual capacity as adult humans would be far less than our own. Your point still stands, though. It would be interesting if we could raise a baby from that time period and see how well it develops.
EDIT: Apparently some people on here are letting their cynicism cloud their ability to have productive conversations with people online. If you disagree with someone, I would suggest refraining from personal attacks and instead add to the conversation with facts and opinions based in specifics on the ideas being spoken to.
I am not saying that their brains were genetically different than ours. I am saying that adults from that time period would have drastically different structures of neuronal dendrites in their brains. This would lead to difficulty in various concepts and actions.
Learning, or long-term potentiation, arises from the concept or neural plasticity. Humans do not learn by growing new neruons, but by strengthening connections between existing neurons. The mechanisms for this are still being proven, but we do know that learning new concepts strengthens these connections. It also has to do with a release of nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), as well a NMDA receptor sensitivity in the hippocampus. Diet has a big effect on the body's ability to produce and release these substances. Stimulation of the brain is also crucial to stimulation of the release. So one's diet and actions in their youth will affect the way the brain forms as an adult. This is what I was speaking to with regard to my comment. I was not speaking to the genetic structure of their brains in relation to ours. If you have a correction to my comment, by all means add to the conversation. There is no way to prove my statements. However, those with malnutrition and less education as children do show inability to learn as quickly as adults, and long-lasting changes to their brain structures.
http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Models_of_synaptic_plasticity
http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/bne/97/2/319/
http://www.healing-arts.org/tir/perry_childhood_trauma_the_neurobilogy_of_adaptation_states.pdf
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673607600762